UCSA
The UCSA, or United Confederate States of America, is a fairly expansive stellar nation located to the galactic southwest of the Sol system. Its least-distant system, Trenton, is almost exactly ten ly from Sol on a bearing of 216/52/11 from spinward. The UCSA is organized as an extremely loose confederacy; each system is effectively an independent nation able to draw on the collective military assets of the others if necessary. History and Foreign Relations Formed in 2042 by the admission of the former US states of Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Colorado into the Confederate States of America, the UCSA was almost entirely built off the Southern states of the Confederacy. When the Alcubierre drive began entering into common use in the 2080s, the nation's population began gradually emigrating from a largely uninhabitable Earth. Refugees accepted from the nuclear wasteland formerly known as the Northeast settled the first two colonies, Trenton and Albany, while citizens of other states followed suit over the next twenty-odd years. Some chose to remain on Earth; these enclaves are periodically resupplied with equipment and commodities to compensate for their nearly complete lack of any industrial base. The UCSA generally has maintained its previous alliances as its population shifted to the numerous colonies. The Commonwealth of Systems, an amalgation of the British, Australian, Canadian, New Zealand, and South African governments, has been an important ally, as has the Russian-led KVRY/CEER. Its primary enemy continues to be the United Nations, in the form of the UN Co-Prosperity Sphere and its alien subjects. This hostility drew the UCSA into the Great War, a holding action fought to halt UNCS incursions into UNCS space. Alongside a relative handful of allied vessels, the UCSN managed to fight off approximately one hundred UN warships and transports, as well as take over several fringe colonies. At the War's end, the Van Maanen Treaty was signed, implementing the framework for the modern FBS system. Military In keeping with its decentralized nature, the UCSA maintains nearly no unified military, with the exception of Strategic Space Command's nuclear deterrent. Each system-state is responsible for maintaining its own military force under the aegis of its National Guard. Generally, two to three percent of each system-state's population is a member of an Army or Air National Guard unit, or a Navy starship crewman. Reserve units are commonplace, and can oftentimes double the end strength of the Guard with second-line equipment. On some planets, citizens' militia groups are also quite common, and frequently contribute capability up to and including aerospace fighters and light armed vessels. Population The UCSA's population is extremely low, numbering just over 37 million as of the 2150 census. This is largely a result of the nearly 70% population reduction the former US experienced in twenty-first century, and extremely low birthrates in general. Population growth is minimal, and occasional decreases are not unheard of on a year-to-year basis. Population by System-State Trenton: 8,864,590 Albany: 7,570,261 Fargo: 1,595,728 Fort Wayne: 6,537,334 Lexington: 4,380,415 Dixie: 4,822,023 Ozark: 2,949,131 Cheyenne: 576,412 TOTAL: 37,295,884